Theme 4 – Mirror/Reflection (Dec. 24 - 25)
Rated: K+ (for now...subject to change later)
Pairing: Interchangeable Yullen/AreKan...also subject to change
This will probably be the last official Yullen Week submission from me. I started writing them very late in the midst of NaNoWriMo and the whirlwind of life. Then I decided this morning that this particular fic would probably work better as a chapter fic (as opposed to a 30 page one shot), considering how many directions it could take from here on.
Anyway, please enjoy~!
Dimension of the Other
Chapter 1
"How are we going to get it out?"
Five members of the Black Order huddled around a thick mirror sitting in the middle of Komui's office. Allen and Kanda had returned the previous day from their most recent mission with the giant, cumbersome looking glass, wrapped in packing paper. It emitted the soft green glow of Innocence from the center of the reflective surface.
Allen voiced what everyone was thinking as they scrutinized every inch of the seemingly impenetrable mirror. Not even a scratch marred its surface, and each side of the frame was sealed completely without a crack in the wood.
"How the hell would any of us know?" Kanda snapped irritably. He stood back from the rest of the group, arms crossed in frustration. After all the trouble they'd gone through to transport the Innocence, now they had no way of getting it out so Hevlaska could examine it.
"Calm down, Kanda," Lenalee said absently as she stared into the dirty glass. "Did either of you notice that you can't see your reflection in this mirror?"
Kanda's eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. For all the effort he put into completing his missions successfully, he could say little for his perception of smaller details. Judging from Allen's expression, he hadn't realized it either.
Komui sidled over, examining the mirror. He kept looking from different angles – high, low, tilting from side to side – before clapping his hands together. "My Lenalee, so observant, as always!" he gushed, grinning ear to ear.
Reever, too, stepped over to give his input. "She's right," he said incredulously.
Still, no one had touched it yet except Allen and Kanda when they brought it back. No one knew what unpredictable qualities Innocence possessed, so analyzing them required the utmost caution. Reever seemed most reluctant to approach the object, studying it from a greater distance than the others. Komui refused to let Lenalee do anything more than look, although he seemed quite proud of her earlier perception.
What frustrated Kanda was that they were all looking from the same side when it was a double sided mirror. Sweeping over to the other side, he peered at the Innocence from his new vantage point. Everything seemed exactly the same as the other side. No reflection. Glowing Innocence mocking him from within its safety zone. He felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to punch the mirror and shatter it into as many pieces as possible.
As if suddenly realizing there was another side, Reever stepped over beside him, squinting at its surface like it would reveal some new detail. Finding none, he only sighed as Kanda knelt before the oversized piece of furniture. He pressed his fingertips to the grimy surface with a scowl.
On the other side, Allen reached out a hand, contacting the glass with his palm. When he tried to move it, his hand was stuck. Eyes widening in shock, he pulled harder, only to find he couldn't detach himself from the mirror.
Kanda, too, gritted his teeth, trying to disconnect his fingers from the Innocence. It felt as if they were fused with the object before him, and for a moment he panicked.
"Allen?" Lenalee said quizzically. "What's wrong?"
"M-my hand's stuck!" he gasped, taking a break from trying to dislodge his immobile limb.
Lenalee jumped back in surprise. "Brother," she exclaimed, "Do something!"
"Get it off!" Kanda barked from the other side, still trying his utmost to free his digits. The mirror rocked as Reever tugged his hand without success.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Komui cried, stepping back so quickly some of his coffee sloshed out of its mug. "I don't know what to do! Reever!"
"How am I supposed to do anything?" Reever exclaimed, poking his head around the side of the mirror in a panic.
"Wah!"
The frightened shout came from Allen, who had since stopped trying to detach his hand by force. When everyone whirled around to see what was wrong now, they found his palm almost completely sunk into the gritty surface as if it were water, fingers partially submerged.
"Oi! What the hell is this?"
No one even had to look to understand that the same was happening to Kanda. However, he never stopped trying to wrench himself away from the Innocence-infused furnishing.
"Stop it!" Kanda spat through gritted teeth, as if the object would obey him.
Before long, both their arms were immersed to the shoulder. Allen's terrified face nearly touched the glass, his nose mere millimeters away, as he attempted to think of some strategy to get out of this situation. Kanda, on the other hand, wore a decisively angry glare, frustrated at himself for being unable to dislodge his arm with pure brute strength.
Everyone in the vicinity kept their guards up, ready to act should something happen. That is, Reever and Lenalee stuck close to the two stuck exorcists. Komui had long since backed off for fear of being sucked into the contraption himself. He had tried to drag Lenalee away as well, but after she threatened to get married and not invite him to her wedding, he conceded, sobbing.
All of a sudden, the Innocence within the dirt encrusted mirror began to shimmer brighter and brighter until the entire surface emitted an almost eerie green glow. Both boys had to close their eyes tightly and look away for fear of being blinded. Even Lenalee and Reever squinted against the light.
One final flash erupted from the object, and two simultaneous cries split the air. A mysterious whirlwind swept Komui's disheveled papers into a violent tornado.
For a moment, Allen and Kanda disappeared to those around them before being thrown out on opposite sides from where they started. Lenalee rushed to Allen's aid while Reever tended to Kanda. Komui ambled over to examine them both, still from a slight distance.
It soon became clear that something was terribly wrong.
Kanda sat on the tiled floor of Komui's office, head in his hands, knees drawn up. His face was drawn into a pained grimace, ebony bangs obscuring his sharp eyes. For the Asian man, it seemed such a vulnerable position. Reever was taken aback when a groan escaped the man's throat.
Allen, on the other hand, waved Lenalee off when she tried to help him, shooting a quick glare in her direction. Although his eyes appeared unfocused and he swayed just a bit where he sat, he maintained a certain composure. Sitting up straighter, he merely blinked several times before uttering a noncommittal grunt.
Lenalee only stared at him, kneeling inches away. She reached out to touch him, but he only brushed her hand away again.
"Quit it," the young exorcist said bluntly. "Why don't you go help that stupid Bean Sprout. I'm sure he needs it."
Komui's and Reever's heads swiveled in their direction.
"What do you think you're doing, talking my little sister that way!" Komui blubbered, sinking into defensive older brother mode. "Lenalee, don't bother helping those who can't appreciate your compassion! He isn't worth it, I tell you—"
"Brother, be quiet!" she snapped, brow furrowed. "Didn't you hear him?"
"Of course I did!" Komui said, waving his arms and spilling even more coffee. "He said 'quit it' and slapped your hand away! I'm going to kill him!"
Continuing his tirade, he flapped his arms all around, spilling yet more hot coffee. At one point he tipped it backwards, pouring a waterfall onto Allen, who still sat on the floor.
"You bastard, what do you think you're doing?" he roared, louder than anyone had heard Allen yell before. Even Komui froze.
"See?" Lenalee pointed out. "He's not himself!"
"What are you talking about?" Allen snapped, irritation plain on his features.
"You…you're not…" Lenalee began, searching for the right words. "Why are you referring to yourself in the third person?"
"What?" he growled. "I'm not. I told you to stop helping me and pay attention to that Bean Sprout."
"That's you," she said gently. "Did something happen to your mind, Allen?"
"Who…" he began, then paused.
"Lenalee, I'm fine." It was something Allen would say, but Allen's mouth didn't move. A shuffling came from feet away, and Lenalee turned to find Kanda trying to keep his balance as he stood up. When he was finally steady on his feet, he flashed her a rather charming grin, saying, "See?"
"K-Kanda?" Reever said cautiously, as Lenalee and Komui were both speechless.
Allen, who hadn't been looking in that direction, whirled around, only to freeze in place when his eyes met Kanda's. Kanda, too, went rigid before his jaw dropped, pure shock plastered all over his face. Allen, on the other hand, looked appalled.
"Wh-what is this?" Kanda stammered, cautiously approaching Allen.
Komui stepped forward, adjusting his glasses seriously. "I think I see what's happened here," he stated, more calmly than anyone could have predicted. "Allen."
"Y-yes!" The words were answered with Allen's voice, but coming from Kanda's body.
Komui smirked triumphantly. "Your bodies have been switched."
Kanda's face – from Allen's body – betrayed even greater disgust than had been present before. While Reever's and Lenalee's eyes darted between the two, expressions in perpetual states of surprised confusion, it became evident that Komui's statement was true. Every one of Allen and Kanda's actions seemed inexplicably out of character – the way Allen's features contorted into every variation of a frown or scowl; the way Kanda smiled so widely toward everyone around him, acting as if this problem weren't the most horrifying thing ever to happen to him.
"So what are we supposed to do about it?" Kanda demanded, twisting Allen's expression into one of heated fury.
"I'm not sure," Komui said lamely, only feeding the flames. "This has never happened before."
"We don't have anything for it in the Science Division either," Reever chimed in when the steely glare was turned on him. When it intensified, and after a silent plea from Allen in Kanda's body, he added, "B-but if you give us a few days, we might be able to put something together."
The Japanese man's sharp eyes lit up with Allen's sudden optimism.
"Che. We can't trust you guys in the Science Division," Kanda muttered.
Lenalee intervened just as Reever opened his mouth to retort. "Why don't you try switching back the way you got switched in the first place?" she suggested.
A hostile glare cut off Komui's impending speech about how intelligent his younger sister was. The two boys heeded her advice, taking their previous positions on either side of the mirror. Cautiously, Allen and Kanda raised their hands to the glass. As they kept their fingers pressed against the cool surface, it became apparent that this wasn't going to work. In desperation, they tried every variation of the tactic – switching sides, using different hands, placing them in different spots, everything they could think of without success.
By the end, Kanda lunged at the mirror in a rage, ready to shatter the crud-covered glass. It took both Lenalee and Reever to hold him back, even in Allen's slender body. Allen even stepped around the mirror, eyes shooting daggers at Kanda.
"Don't do stupid things while you're in my body!" he ordered. "I'll be the one paying for it later if you do."
"Shut up!" Kanda snapped. "You're already making me look ridiculous with your overly optimistic nature."
"It wouldn't hurt you to smile now and then, you know," Allen quipped, frowning in a way that made him look more like the real Kanda.
"Stop arguing!" Lenalee shouted, stepping between them. "Reever and the rest in the Science Division will fix this. Right?"
Reever, snapping to attention, affirmed her promise. He wouldn't admit his being at a complete loss for a place to start in this predicament. With a quick sigh, he spoke. "So…will you both tell me exactly how you felt going through the mirror before you crossed into the other's body? Any details you can remember."
"Well," Allen began, staring toward the ceiling and putting a finger to his chin in a very unKanda-like manner, "When it first pulled me in, I couldn't really get my bearings. It felt like I was tumbling around in mid-air. I couldn't find the ground. Then my body hurt like my skin was being ripped away – I guess that's when we got switched – and I landed on my head when I hit the ground. It still kind of hurts," he said, reaching up to touch the tender spot.
Kanda scoffed. "And you tell me to be careful in your body."
"Kanda?" Reever said, not giving Allen the chance to argue. "Did you feel the same?"
"More or less," the bad-tempered exorcist replied.
"What was different?"
"I didn't land on my head," he started off. "I didn't move inside the mirror, except when it pulled me out of my body. Then it felt like all of my bones were breaking before I got thrown out on the other side."
"Is that still bothering you?" Reever queried.
"No," the man stated bluntly.
"Hmm…" Reever puzzled over the new information for a while before speaking once more. "It doesn't make sense. Innocence shouldn't have the power to do something like this. We'll try to change you back to yourselves, but in the meantime, you'll have to figure something out."
With that, he left Komui's office, making his way back to the Science Division.
"That didn't solve anything," Kanda growled.
"It takes a while, Kanda," Allen assured him, though it provoked the man in his body more than anything.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he barked.
"You're not the only one in a bad situation," the other reminded him. "What if we get a mission? I'm not a samurai!"
"If that's your only complaint—"
"You two, cut it out," Komui said firmly. "There's no other option but to act like each other until we've got a remedy for this. If you're to go about your usual business, spend some time with each other and learn how to act."
Both exorcists exchanged glances of mutual distaste.
"Brother," Lenalee piped up, "how are we going to get Hevlaska to examine the Innocence?"
"We'll see if she can do it through the mirror," he said. "She might be able to offer us a few leads. You two can go."
Hesitating momentarily, they eventually left the office, moving strangely in their new bodies.
Thank you for reading! Please review with your thoughts (I do so love reviews). :3 I'm actually rather worried about how I portrayed everyone's characters aside from Allen's and Kanda's. I usually give them minuscule roles in my fics for just that reason. ^^;